Highland Park Senior High Headliner

Highland Families,

As you have likely heard, a Highland Middle School student was fatally shot last week. This tragedy along with the increasing level of violence in our society is an obvious cause for ongoing concern. These types of events can provoke a wide range of emotions in students that they may need help sorting out. I want to remind all families that if your child is struggling with stress, anxiety or fear related to this recent tragedy or due to other causes that we have an array of support resources in our building. These resources include counselors, social workers and our Health Start Clinic. Please encourage your child to reach out if they need help or you can also reach out on their behalf. Now more than ever we must rally around our students so they are physically and emotionally well.

Monday, October 16, 2023

• PSAT/NMSQT
• PTSA Meeting via Zoom 7:00-8:15

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

• PSAT/NMSQT

Thursday, October 19, 2023 - Friday, October 20, 2023

• No School/MEA

Monday, October 30, 2023

• Picture Retakes

We invite you to attend parent conferences on Thursday, October 12. You have two options:

1. Virtual Conferences only: 4pm-6pm
2. In-person Conferences only: 6pm-8pm

You will receive a communication on Monday at 3pm with specific directions on how to register for the virtual portion. There is no registration needed for the in-person conferences.

Thank you for your continued support of Highland Park Senior High School.

11th & 12th grade students have the opportunity to attend Career Connect Day at the St. Paul RiverCentre on Tuesday, October 17th from 8:45 – 11:00am. There will be over 100 local businesses that will be sharing information about how students can explore a career in their field. The career fields that will be represented at the fair are:

• Business, Management & Administration
• Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
• Arts, Communications & Information Systems
• Engineering, Manufacturing & Technology
• Health Services Technology
• Human Services

To sign-up, students can get a permission slip from Mr. Carlson in the CCRC or Mr. Giles in Room 3209. Permission slips are due Wednesday, October 11th.

Over eighty 12th graders attended the National College Fair at the Mpls Convention Center on Thursday, Oct 5th. Students were able to meet with over 250 college admission representatives from all over the world!

Our 10th grade students are starting their IB MYP Personal Projects! The Personal Project is a student-centered and student-selected project and provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent exploration into an area of personal interest. The projects are up to the students and should be challenging and engaging for the student. It is an expectation that all HPSH students will engage in this project as do all IB MYP students across the globe!

Some Key Details:

• Students will be engaging in some brainstorming lessons soon in advisory.

• Students will find out their Personal Project Advisor later this month. (Students meet with their Personal Project Advisors during 4 scheduled meetings).

• Finished projects include: a process journal, product/outcome, paper, and a showcase.

• The overall project (with journal and paper) should take about 25 hours to complete. The criteria for the project and paper are Planning, Applying Skills, and Reflecting -- these are very universal and will work with any topic.

• The paper will be explained in detail in December after the students have engaged further in their projects. The paper length requirement is 15 pages or less (this does include the title page, table of contents, evidence, bibliography). The paper aims to explain the process of the personal project, explain the impact of the project on the student and their learning, evaluate the product based on the success criteria the student created, and show reflection with detailed examples and evidence. Students will be provided with a rubric and prompts to help write the paper. The journal entries will be a great resource as students write the paper.

Please see the Schoology Personal Project Course for more details, documents, slideshow with examples, etc.

Thanks!

Marissa Bonk

IB MYP Coordinator

marissa.bonk@spps.org

Next meeting: October 16, 7:00-8:15 on Zoom

Ms Baheriy, Highland's College and Career Resource Center Specialist will be presenting a timeline for the college application process that applies to students and families from all grades.

A panel of Highland seniors will be sharing strategies they use to juggle the demands of their classes, athletics, jobs, family responsibilities and college preparations.

The meeting will go from 7:00-8:15, with optional time at the end for discussion.

Here is the Zoom Link:

https://zoom.us/j/99029290092?pwd=am9ZRUhaNG85LzBIZDBwTXQwTFdPUT09

Hope to see you there!

From Allianz Field Fundraising:

The final game of the regular season for the MN United Loons was October 7th. This week's volunteer shout out goes to Boys Soccer, Choir, Band, The Ducks Lacrosse teams, Hockey, Girls Basketball, Union Latina and FFA. Thank you for volunteering this fall!

Playoff decision day for hosting home games will be decided on October 21st with playoffs to begin October 25th. We need to be ready for anything! New games will be added to the signup website as they become known. Get on the waitlist for playoffs by sending a request to the Volunteer inbox at hpshptsa.vol@gmail.com.

Parents and students (ages 14+) can sign up for a 5-hour volunteer shift at Allianz Field, home of the MN United Football Club, to raise money for their club, team, and classrooms. We receive $125 per volunteer! Site Leads receive an additional $50 for their group. All shifts are climate controlled indoors at the Premium Stadium Club level. Please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0944adae2eaaf85-allianz#/.

SPPS Dance Team is holding tryouts for the season, beginning on Monday, October 23, from 3:45-6:00. All students in grades 7-12 are welcome! This is a district-wide team that meets during dance season (November- February) to practice together and compete with other Minnesota schools. Practices are held at Highland Senior High, but students from all SPPS schools are encouraged to join! Free bussing is provided from all schools for tryouts and practices. Please share the flyer attached with students and families. For questions contact Coach Sydney Wilton at danceteamspps@gmail.com

Highland Families,

The following communication was shared with all students via Schoology and through the daily announcements from Dr. Tucker. If your child drives to school, please remind your child of this expectation.

Scots,

Please only park in the parking lot if you are a senior and have purchased a parking permit. We will be having the police ticket the parking lot throughout the school year, and I do not want you to get a ticket. Students are not permitted to park in the middle school lot even with a Highland parking permit. Thanks for your cooperation.

Need swag? Order here!

Click here to see the latest CCRC newsletter! This newsletter highlights upcoming college and career-related opportunities.

Highland Park CCRC - The CCRC is here to help students with college and career planning! The CCRC provides the following resources to students:

• Interests and skills exploration tools
• Career Information
• Resume Help
• College and Post-Secondary exploration tools
• College Admission, Career and Military Representative Visits
• College Admission test information such as ACT and Accuplacer
• Scholarships
• Financial Aid
• Summer and Community Opportunities
• And more!

CLICK HERE to check out the new CCRC website! This site will be updated throughout the year with important information, resources, and opportunities.

All freshmen are taking an academic support class this year, either AVID or Scots Strategies. In addition to doing community-building activities, we have started the year off strong by working on the following skills:

• organizing documents in Notability (an app that allows students to write on digital documents and file them in folders)

• planning work and making to-do lists of assignments

• creating SMART goals and reflecting on them

• writing formal emails

• communicating needs and questions / self-advocacy

• using notes in ways that help students think more deeply about the topic (focused notetaking)

Here are some ways you could reinforce these skills with your child at home:

• Help them develop an after-school routine that includes doing schoolwork.

• Remind your teen to turn off notifications or power off their phones while doing schoolwork to help them focus. (Many students wrote their weekly goal around this!)

• Talk to them about getting more sleep. Going to bed even 15 or 30 minutes earlier can be helpful.

• Ask to see your student’s grades weekly on Schoology. Parents can also view student progress through the parent portal.

• Encourage your child to ask for help if they do not understand. The staff at Highland want to support students!

We appreciate your 9th grader!

Julie Eddy

Kathrine Walter

and the 9th grade Academic Support team

Check out what our awesome Scots are up to by following Highland Park Senior High on Facebook and highlandparksr.scots.pride on Instagram.

You can now order your 2023-2024 yearbook. Follow this link:

https://www.balfour.com/minnesota/saint-paul/highland-park-senior-high-school/yearbook-packages

Contact Nancy Michael with questions. nancy.michael@spps.org

GTK- (Good To Know) information about HPSH for parents and guardians, especially those new to Highland. New this year- virtual parent/guardian informational meetings around relevant topics and commonly asked questions. Click here for more details.

First Meeting - September 21

Here are the links to the slides and recording from the first Virtual Parent/Guardian Meeting. Hope to see you all in October!

Meeting Dates:

October 26, 2023

November 30, 2023

December 14, 2023

As the school year begins, there are two ways to support our terrific Highland Park teachers and staff:

• By purchasing items on the Wish List for use in the classroom: Wish List This list is always being updated—teachers are in the process of adding their lists for this school year.
• By purchasing general school supplies—Kleenex, hand sanitizer, pencils, pens, highlighters, dry erase markers, post-its and snacks. General supplies can be brought to the school office any time.

The PTSA will also be collecting Kleenex, hand sanitizer and general school supplies at the Open House event—if you can bring even one box of Kleenex, it will have a positive impact! It is the number one requested item from teachers and staff!

Thank you from the Highland Park PTSA.

Hello New York Trip Participants and Possible Participants,

I am so excited that you are interested in learning more about our HPSH New York Trip Spring Break 2024.

Please make sure to block off the following dates on your calendar April 6th-14th. The travel company will be looking for the best ticket prices as we get closer to the date so we may need to leave a little earlier or later within this possible travel window for our 5 days; hopefully the 8th-12th, but again it might start a little earlier or later.

The link for more detailed information and signing up is www.efexploreamerica.com/2611215kk

I am planning a google meet October 27th from 6:00-6:45pm. Our Google Meet Nickname will be HPNewYork2024

AGENDA

• Welcome New Interested Travelers:We may be welcoming a few final interested travelers!

• Behavior Expectations Form: I will have a form for people to download, sign and return to the school about safety and behavior expectations.

Students will also be able to pick this form up from me in room 150 in the link.

• Slide Introduction Tool: Here is a link to a slide show you can use to introduce yourself to the group.

You may enter information before the meeting, during the meeting, or after the meeting.

Link: Introduce Yourself to Fellow Travelers:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tBZqsBimHDGgAmSVTiYvd1Gl9E0FhksTGCw9y2zuJjA/edit?usp=sharing

Looking forward to seeing you there. Please reach out to me anytime with any questions.

Warm Wishes,

Keri.Schultz@spps.org

There will be some positive changes to grading practices at all SPPS high schools beginning in the 2023-24 school year. SPPS is shifting to more consistent and equitable grading practices across all high schools to ensure that students’ grades truly reflect what they’ve learned. Visit the Grading Practices FAQ webpage for more information. More details will be provided this fall, including information sessions with language support for families.

In-person students will receive free breakfast and lunch under the Minnesota Free School Meals program. All students are eligible to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch each school day. Second meals, incomplete meals and single item purchases, such as milk only, must be purchased.

• Student Second Breakfast: $2.85
• Student Second Lunch: $5
• Milk Only: $0.50
• For a complete list of prices, visit spps.org/ns.

Visit schoolcafe.com/spps to manage your student’s meal account, view menus, ingredients and nutritional information, and complete the Application for Educational Benefits.

• While all in-person students will receive free breakfast and lunch under Minnesota’s Free School Meals program, it remains critical that all families complete an Application for Educational Benefits each school year. These applications determine how much funding your child’s school receives for educational programs and supports. Additionally, eligible families can qualify for other benefits. The application can be completed online at schoolcafe.com/spps. Paper applications are available at your child's school.

Use Parent Portal and see your child’s attendance, homework assignments, grades and more. Log on to spps.org/onestop and click on “parent portal”. This valuable tool will provide both information on your student and a means of communicating with your student’s teachers. Report cards are not mailed to homes.

For access please contact the main office at 651-293-8940.

The MTC Unlimited Pass is available to purchase for $97.00 per quarter. Bring the payment to Shawn Vennemann in the main office (checks payable to Highland Park Senior High School). When the first payment is made, the bus pass will be ordered. When the quarter ends the bus pass will need to be renewed by submitting a payment for the next quarter (schedule is below). If payment is not received by the due date the card will be de-activated. The card will be re-activated when payment is received it will take 24 hours after payment is made to be active again.

MTC Bus Pass Quarter Dates

8/21/2023 to 11/1/2023 payments due now

11/2/2023 to 1/14/2024 payment due by Monday, October 30, 2023

1/15/2024 to 3/31/2024 payment due by Monday, January 8, 2024

4/1/2024 to 6/14/2024 payment due by Monday, March 25, 2024

Website: https://www.spps.org/highlandsr
Location: 1015 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-293-8940